When considering replacing a missing or failing tooth, most patients are looking to have a tooth that looks and feels as natural as their real teeth. Dental implants provide the most natural tooth replacement. However, the appearance and longevity of these teeth is heavily determined by the surgical and technical skill provided by the implant team.
The Dental Implant with sub-optimal aesthetics
At our clinic we recently saw a patient (picture below) who had her implant treatment performed at another practice. She wanted to know if the implant replacing her UL2 missing tooth could be treated to look more aesthetic as currently it has a much higher gum line. In this case, as is often the case, the only way to position the gum line in a more natural position would be to re-do the whole implant treatment again. Problems like this are best treated by prevention. Meticulous planning and skill is required to consistently prevent such issues occurring around implants at the front of the mouth. For this reason, we recommend that patients understand that implant treatment at 2 different practices may not be similar at all. Simply having a replacement tooth is not a success, surely it has to look and behave like a real tooth and have long term success.
The Dental Implants that have a natural aesthetic appearance
The pictures below are of our patients who attended our clinic and wanted the most natural tooth replacement to replace the missing teeth at the front of the mouth. When providing replacement teeth in the aesthetic zone (smile zone), we must ensure that the transition area around the gum line is in symmetry to the natural adjacent teeth. It is this symmetry that allows replacement teeth to blend into the arch without looking unnatural. Symmetrical gum contours also enable much better plaque control and better long term maintenance of the teeth and dental implant.
Therefore this highlights the importance of choosing an experienced implant practice when considering aesthetically demanding implant treatment.
Thank you for reading,
Mohsin Patel BDS MJDF RCS(Eng)
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